the artist is a beast

collection edwin oostmeijer

June 18th - September 10th, 2023

On The Inside is proud to present the artist is a beast, a curated selection of Edwin Oostmeijer’s young and extensive selection of international art.

Among more than 35 different artists on display, you will find notable works by renowned painters such as Rose Wylie, Katherine Bradford, Danny Fox, and many others. These works, like most works and artists in the show, are now presented in the Netherlands for the first time.

‘the artist is a beast’ was inaugurated by the mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, on June 18th.

About the exhibition

the artist is a beast shows an impressive selection of figurative paintings from Oostmeijer’s collection. The works on display are radiant, vivid, and at times absurd. Together they explore the complex relationship between art and the human condition.

Absurd art, which is characterized by the rejection of the traditional narrative and logical coherence, naturally fits into exploring this relationship. Through their work, the artists challenge traditional notions of what art is and can be, embracing the irrational and the ridiculous as a means of exploring the world around them.

In ancient mythology, beasts were portrayed as powerful and noble creatures with supernatural abilities. Strong, skilled, dangerous, aggressive and uncivilized. The beast represented a raw and instinctive energy. A natural force that shakes the structural foundation of society. Like the beast, the artist can embody a state of primal instinct, freed from social constraints and boundaries, to create something truly powerful.

In addition to renowned painters such as Rose Wylie, Katherine Bradford and Danny Fox the exhibition shows over 60 works by more than 35 different emerging and established artists: a personal anthology of international figurative painters of the moment.

About the collection

Edwin Oostmeijer (1963) is a Dutch art collector that began collecting art only 7 years ago and has since amassed an impressive collection of works by some of the world’s most exciting artists.

His impressive collection consists of more than 300 contemporary paintings, including iconic works by the 89-year old English artist Rose Wylie. Only in recent years has she caused international furore with her expressive and idiosyncratic canvases. Wylie intertwines her broad cultural knowledge with observations from her immediate environment, making associations that are visual, personal and urgent.

Another artist with a large body of work in the exhibition is the 80-year-old American artist Katherine Bradford who also made her international breakthrough later in life. Her bleak figurative paintings in striking colours depicting luminous fields populated with characters, often swimming, flying, or floating. This quirky universe, painted in many transparent layers of acrylic, offers metaphorical depictions of issues such as gender and universal humanity.

About the curator

Reilly Davidson is a writer, curator, and interdisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Her practice is largely research-based, with a distinct focus on capturing an “instant-now.”

The artists

‘the artist is a beast’ features over 60 works from more than 35 different international emerging and established artists, including:

Aly Helyer, Anna Glantz, Anthony Cudahy, Aubrey Levinthal, Alejandra Moros, Caleb Hahne, Caroline Walker, Clayton Schiff, Clotilde Jimenez, Danny Fox, Filip Henin, Grace Metzler, Grgur Akrap, Henry Curchod, Hiroshi Sugito, Igor Moritz, Jules de Balincourt, Justine Neuberger, Justin Liam O’Brien, Katherine Bradford, Kenrick McFarlane, Kenny Rivero, Lenz Geerk, Linus Borgo, Louise Giovanelli, Louis Fratino, Matthias Franz, Mosie Romney, Pieter Jennes, Raya Terran, RJ Messineo, Rosalind Nashashibi, Rose Wylie, Sarah Ball, Shona McAndrew, Willem Weismann.